[Athen] Articulate 360 and accessibility

[Kowalik, Eric]

Hi Chris,


Yes, there are a lot of great interactive options. Hopefully others on the list will chime in on this topic, my feeling is the goal is universal design where one module can be used by all without having to have two versions.


Our institution is undergoing a remediation project in which modules developed in Storyline 2 are being upgraded via Storyline 3 to make them accessible. There are two modules that heavily utilize the drag and drop functionality. Project stake holders and users love this, so in order to make the module accessible, we developed a separate track that can be used solely via the keyboard. The user is prompted which version they would like to experience when the module first loads.


While doing this keeps the drag and drop functionality, it also doubles the work as you are basically developing a second version of the module. If this is a training module that will be updated frequently you'd have to consider if the extra development time and quality assurance testing is worth it.


-Eric


________________________________
From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu> on behalf of Christine Robinson <crobinson at ggc.edu>
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2018 12:34:02 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: Re: [Athen] Articulate 360 and accessibility


Hi Eric –



Thanks for your input. Yes, Articulate 360 is a suite of apps and online tools, available by subscription, whereas Storyline 3 is a standalone desktop app with more limited access to some online resources.



Many of the features in Articulate 360 are so good for building in interactivity, I’m really disappointed that it isn’t farther along in accessibility features.



So now I’m wondering: is it a terrible idea to make two versions of my training module?

1.       A text-only version that includes all the learning content from my script, and includes headings, emphasis styles, etc. for my trainees with visual disabilities

2.       A second version authored in Articulate, for trainees with unimpaired vision



I have to admit, I really like the interactivity tools this software provides, and would love to use those features with my learners who would be able to benefit from it, while still giving the best user experience possible to those with visual impairment.



Best,

Chris





Christine Robinson | Technical Trainer/Writer | Center for Teaching Excellence

Georgia Gwinnett College | 1000 University Center Lane | Lawrenceville, GA 30043



From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Kowalik, Eric
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2018 12:15 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>; The EDUCAUSE IT Accessibility Constituent Group Listserv <ITACCESS at LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU>
Subject: Re: [Athen] Articulate 360 and accessibility

Hi Chris,

I use Storyline 3 quite a bit and I agree, it is a great product. From my understanding Storyline 3 is similar to Storyline 360 with one difference being Storyline 3 you can buy via a one time fee wheras Storyline 360 is a subscription based service.

Below are some accessibility related things I've learned while using the product:

  *   Interactive features such as drag and drop and hotspots are NOT accessible and Articulate is pretty up front about what is accessible and what is not you can check ou this page for more information - https://articulate.com/support/article/Articulate-360-FAQs-Accessibility<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__articulate.com_support_article_Articulate-2D360-2DFAQs-2DAccessibility&d=DwMFAg&c=S1d2Gs1Y1NQV8Lx35_Qi5FnTH2uYWyh_OhOS94IqYCo&r=sGFDXSz1Ya8ct2HwpfBa20VkxD1Snx3Iea8CruoKKZ4&m=3t4STkBB383vcR1CassPD6b5dRwAtlgXwmMAutBLZdI&s=ol1W9Imz-ebinDmIcf2PHDccsBp-19qKi8RrQyZfOhA&e=>
  *   If you include a link in a text box, the screen reader isn't able to get to the link to open it. A work around is to create a transparent box that links to your link and place this over the link location in the text box.
  *   I've found in testing their quiz drop down menus that NVDA does not read the contents of the drop down menus.
  *   If you include iFrame content, for example a YouTube video, there isn't a way to access the YouTube video player and its controls, for example turning on CC, fast forwarding, etc. A clunky work around removing the iFrame from the screen reader and creating a transparent shape that when clicked will open a new window with the video.
  *   JAWS is their screen reader of choice, if it works in JAWS and not in another screen reader, such as NVDA or Voiceover they have not been particularly helpful trying to troubleshoot the problem.

While there are certain accessibility issues with the latest Storyline, it has come a long way in regards to accessibility from Storyline and Storyline 2 and the HTML 5 out put is much better, allowing you to move on from Flash.

A few other notes:

  *   You mentioned the ability to elect whether a graphic object is visible to accessibility tools which is great. You also have the ability to edit the tab order which is also very helpful as sometimes items don't tab in a logical order, so having the ability to remedy that is great.
  *   The Storyline user community is very active and helpful, I often find a lot of great ideas and suggested work arounds for some of the accessibility issues by checking out their community forums - https://community.articulate.com/discuss<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__community.articulate.com_discuss&d=DwMFAg&c=S1d2Gs1Y1NQV8Lx35_Qi5FnTH2uYWyh_OhOS94IqYCo&r=sGFDXSz1Ya8ct2HwpfBa20VkxD1Snx3Iea8CruoKKZ4&m=3t4STkBB383vcR1CassPD6b5dRwAtlgXwmMAutBLZdI&s=JrFwbGOo0b3mza5uGeCbHwTq_flpxvZkIeSgDovc9ic&e=>

-Eric



________________________________

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu<mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu>> on behalf of Christine Robinson <crobinson at ggc.edu<mailto:crobinson at ggc.edu>>
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2018 8:30 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network; The EDUCAUSE IT Accessibility Constituent Group Listserv
Subject: [Athen] Articulate 360 and accessibility



Hi all –

Can anyone out there give me information about the accessibility features of the authoring tool, Articulate 360?

I’ve been playing around with one of the apps, Storyline 360, and so far I like its features for adding interactivity to training modules. However, I’m concerned about the degree to which published content would be accessible.

I see that Storyline 360 has some accessibility features built in, such as the ability to add alt text for graphics, and also the ability to elect whether a graphic object is visible to accessibility tools. The latter seems like a great feature, to keep screen readers from bothering about images that are purely decorative.

However, particularly with some of Storyline’s “Interactive Objects” like buttons, sliders, and hotspots, I wonder how navigable these are for screen readers.

If you have experience using the Articulate 360 suite, please share! I like this software’s features but I don’t want to publish with it unless it’s accessible.

Many thanks,

Chris

Christine Robinson | Technical Trainer/Writer | Center for Teaching Excellence

Georgia Gwinnett College | 1000 University Center Lane | Lawrenceville, GA 30043


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